


Cat's Cradle

by aidyr



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: ? - Freeform, Explicit Language, F/F, Feel-good, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Post Season 4 Finale, Pre Season 5, Pre-Relationship, Purring, Romance, glitra hours, mostly just comfort though, they both need hugs, they're on prime's ship, this is supposed to be soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:00:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23746456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aidyr/pseuds/aidyr
Summary: Glimmer turned quietly to observe her impromptu feline cellmate. Catra had her knees pulled up against her chest, her head hidden underneath her furry arms, tail coiled around her stiff body. Almost as if she were a frightened kitten shielding herself from the scary world.In which Glimmer and Catra get some unexpected bonding time during their imprisonment on Hoard Prime's ship.
Relationships: Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 150





	Cat's Cradle

The air between them was thick and the tension was palpable. Sitting back to back in a dimly lit prison cell (which Hoard Prime had flippantly assured them was a “vestibule”,) the silence was deafening and boredom had quickly begun to drive Glimmer up the wall. They’d only been sitting around for a meager few hours, but it already felt like an eternity. It could very well end up being one too, since an end to their predicament wasn’t likely for the foreseeable future.

Glimmer turned quietly to observe her impromptu feline cellmate. Catra had her knees pulled up against her chest, her head hidden underneath her furry arms, tail coiled around her stiff body. Almost as if she were a frightened kitten shielding herself from the scary world.

Just a couple days prior Glimmer wouldn’t have loved anything more than to blast that frightened kitten into next week but… seeing the Hoard soldier like this was strangely… elucidating? She seemed more human than Glimmer had ever thought her to be. Forever now, Catra was just a thing of Adora’s colorful past; a faceless bad guy Glimmer could never understand her blonde companion’s attachment to.

Between seeing Catra so dejected however, and having nearly set off a super weapon herself, Glimmer found a feeling of empathy clawing at her heart.

Sighing, Glimmer decided she couldn’t take this any longer. Catra had saved her life. She didn’t for the life of her know why (one might assume it was to prevent the obliteration of Etheria, but after the portal ordeal, how much Catra cared about the planet was up in the air.) Even after everything Catra had done, the least Glimmer could do was talk to her. Especially since they’d be stuck in close quarters for who knows how long.

Taking a deep breath, Glimmer turned around. “Hey, Catra?” When she didn’t get an immediate reply, she huffed, annoyed. “C’mon, you’ve gotta be just as bored as I am, right? You don’t have to like me to talk to me.”

Catra, for the first time since their short exchange with Prime, acknowledged Glimmer’s presence. She exhaled roughly, and slightly, ever so slightly, turned her head to meet Glimmer’s hopeful gaze. “And what pray tell, do you want me to talk about Sparkles?” Her ear twitched irritably. “I kept Prime from crushing your stupid skull like a cherry, but that doesn’t mean I wanna have idle chit-chat. Just be glad your glittery ass isn’t a broiling magical corpse right now and leave me alone.”

Well… if those weren’t fighting words, Glimmer didn’t know what was. She decided quickly that two could play this game. Bickering with Catra was more entertaining than staring at the wall at least. “Leave you alone to what?” Glimmer responded with a scoff. “Leave you to sulk like a toddler? Come on, it’s depressing to watch.”

That got the soldier’s attention. “Excuse me?” She hissed, now turning her entire body, and attention, towards Glimmer. “I’m sorry, but my entire life’s work, my will to go on, was just turned to dust before my eyes and scattered to the four-fucking-winds. Apologies if I’m not in the mood to entertain you, your majesty. I’m not your jester.”

Glimmer blinked. “Your will to go on?” She shook her head gently from side to side. “Don’t be so dramatic. Your actor for hire job hopped and Scorpia left the Fright Zone. Double Trouble is… well, Double Trouble. And it never seemed like you liked Scorpia in the first place. What are you so pissed about?”

At this, Catra paused. She opened her mouth to argue, but nothing came out. Glimmer watched her irritation deflate into sullen defeat; her attitude and candid sass evaporating instantly. “You…” She sighed lightly. Her ears sadly folded inwards against her skull. “You wouldn’t understand.”

An inkling of guilt bubbled forth. Glimmer thinks to herself she must’ve struck a chord. She suddenly couldn’t help but recall their short conversation before being taken aboard Prime’s ship. She had her father’s staff in hand, her magical energy surging so intensely it felt like lightning beneath her fingertips. She’d spotted Catra, curled up against some broken down machinery. The catgirl had looked immensely crestfallen. But Glimmer hadn’t cared. She was excited— thrilled, to be able to get her revenge. She was ready to hurt Catra tenfold all the suffering the soldier had caused others. She pointed her staff, said something snarky, and got ready to deliver a good finishing blow.

Then Catra had looked at her, and said seven chilling words: _“What are you waiting for? Do it.”_

She didn’t care what was going to happen to her.

Glimmer realized right then… Catra was hurt. Deeply. Mentally. Emotionally. There was a story here that she didn’t know the details of. And just like that, all the boiling rage she’d felt cooled into a gentle sizzle.

Glimmer looked at Catra now. The one she was sharing her cell with. The one who had saved her life for some inexplicable reason. The person.

Glimmer frowned. “I… you’re right. I don’t understand. I’m… sorry.”

Catra’s ears perked up. “Pardon?”

“I said I’m sorry,” Glimmer affirmed. “I don’t know what could’ve led you down this path. You’ve done a lot of horrible things but… Right now, I can’t help but see you as a person. With feelings…So I’m sorry. I don’t forgive you for all you’ve done but… well, I’m not much different, am I? I nearly ended Etheria. We’re not so different, you and I.” 

“I… Well…” Catra fidgeted in place. Glimmer could just about see the gears turning in her head, before shockingly, Catra cracked a smile. “Pfft, did you seriously just say _we’re not so different, you and I_? Awfully cliché, Sparkles.”

Glimmer paused, surprised by the sudden mood shift. But quickly found herself playing along. “W-what?” She laughed. “It’s true isn’t it? I mean, world destruction party of two, am I right?”

Catra chuckled softly. Her tail began to unwind itself from around her body, and for the first time since they’d arrived, there was the slightest hint of light in her heterochromic eyes. “Seriously princess?” She smirked a fanged smirk of amusement. “Ain’t it a bit too soon for jokes?”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Glimmer accused lightly. “And that’s _queen_ to you, lowlife.”

That seemed to give Catra a pause. “Oh… Right… Queen Angela is uh… right…” Catra’s gaze fell to study the cold stone floor of their cell. “Er… Sorry. I guess.”

Glimmer raised a brow. “Oh. I… Right. The portal was… your fault…”

Another blanket of awkward quiet fell over the room. But Glimmer didn’t wanna subjugate herself to hours more of silently staring into space. And besides, she’d resolved to talk to Catra, so she was gonna talk to her damn it.

“I…” Glimmer sighed. “Don’t worry about it.”

Catra’s eyes widened in surprise. “What the hell do you mean _don’t worry about it_??”

“I mean,” Glimmer spoke with a firm authoritative voice, “don’t worry about it. We’re talking to keep our minds off all the crazy shit going on, so we’re not going to open that large, angry can of worms, okay?”

Pure unfiltered shock was the only way Glimmer could think to describe the look on Catra’s face. The catgirl nodded slowly, “.....okay…..”

The two looked at each other for a few moments. Glimmer supposed a general atmosphere of awkward terribleness would be rather hard to avoid given the circumstances. She cleared her throat in an attempt to break the ice before it got too thick and mumbled softly, “so… what’s uh… your favorite color?”

“My what?” Catra replied in disbelief.

“Your favorite color, you jerk.” Glimmer retorted. “I’m trying to keep the conversation going.”

“Really Sparkles? Really?”

Glimmer grumbled angrily under her breath and glared frosty daggers at the cheeky feline.

Catra’s resolve gave way under that icy stare, and she sighed. Sheepishly she scratched her cheek with a clawed finger and answered lowly, “It’s… uh… it’s pink…”

“Pink? Seriously?” Glimmer would be lying if she said that didn’t surprise her.

“Now who’s the jerk?” Catra spoke with a shy chuckle. Her fuzzy cheeks flushed with a gentle red blush which was hard to notice under the fur and in such poor lighting. But Glimmer caught herself for a second thinking… Catra’s blush was… actually kinda cute… “Yeah though,” she continued. “Your uh, your hair… as stupid and sparkly as it is, is more or less my favorite shade.”

“Oh.” Glimmer blinked. She felt her own cheeks growing a little warm. “Is that a compliment?”

Catra scoffed. “No? Just um… an observation is all. Your hair is objectively a pleasing shade of pink. I’m not sucking you off, Sparkles. Just take it at face value.”

The suggestive way in which Catra told Glimmer to keep her head out of the gutter only served to fluster her further. “C-cool…”

Catra rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She seemed unimpressed, but Glimmer took note of the way her body language was reading as more relaxed than she’d ever seen it. Her tail languidly swayed back and forth and her hair wasn’t stood on end as it often was when they crossed paths. Catra was the next one to speak, seemingly on board with the direction their conversation was headed. “My turn then. What’s your favorite animal?”

Glimmer averted her eyes. She already knew what was coming. She could’ve lied but for reason she felt compelled to answer honestly. “Ah… I like… cats.”

The way Catra’s face lit up in delight made Glimmer want to punch her square in the nose. She could all but see the way her feline mind was concocting some diabolical smartassery and she wanted nothing more than to smack that stupid, pleased look off the soldiers’ face.

“Oh?” Catra hummed, amused. “Is that a cooooomplimeeeent~?” She drawled, really milking the mockery in her tone of voice. She purposely began to wag her tail in faux glee. “Wanna pet me, Sparkles?” She joked. “I’m soooooooo sooooft.” To rub it in, she started to run her fingers through the tufts of orange-brown fur covering her nimble body.

What infuriated Glimmer far more than Catra’s playful jabs… was that she actually did sort of want to.

Damn it.

But, Glimmer thought, she could play along with this. Catra was clearly trying to embarrass her (and it was working,) but she had ammo too. She could shoot. Putting on a stellar poker face, Glimmer looked Catra dead in the eyes and spoke in the most shit-eating, fake, sugary sweet voice she could manage. “Yes, actually I’d love to. Are you offering?”

Catra stopped cold, right in her tracks.

Glimmer proudly knew she’d hit bullseye.

Unfortunately however, they were both stubborn as bulls. So there was really only one way this could’ve ever played out.

Catra shifted uncomfortably for a short second, before firmly deciding, “Er… sure, why the hell not? Knock yourself out.” She scooted closer, and her voice sounded confident, but the scarlet color rising in her face betrayed her false conviction.

Glimmer tried (and failed, miserably,) to hide her genuine excitement when Catra tilted her head of floofy hair in invitation. In the past, Glimmer had begrudgingly noticed several times how soft her enemy looked. She never would’ve admitted it, since she hated Catra’s guts. But since they were here, and Glimmer was slowly becoming acclimated to the other girl… why not? Appreciating someone’s softness without bias wasn’t the same as liking them as a person, Glimmer decided.

She reached out and gently placed a hand against Catra’s mane. It was… very, very soft. It might’ve appeared unkempt, but truly, Catra’s hair was like thick silk against her fingers. How in Etheria did she get it like this, Glimmer wondered? The Fright Zone couldn’t have stockpiles of A-Grade conditioners, could they? She moved her hand through the locks of brown hair; she admired it completely and unironically. Her attention moved from Catra’s hair, to her ears. The hair there was much shorter but just as soft. And rubbing them felt just like rubbing the ears of a large, velvety cat.

She was so distracted by what her hands were doing she very nearly missed the sound of gentle rumbling which emanated warmly from Catra’s chest. Thank the stars she didn’t though, because it was the best noise she’d ever heard.

“Are you…” she started, a real and unabashed smile tugging at her lips. “Are you purring?”

Catra had at some point closed her eyes and relaxed into the other girl’s touch. Just like that however, her eyelids snapped open, and she scurried backwards, away from Glimmer’s affectionate hand. “W-what? No… No! F-fuck you!”

“Oh Gods, you were!” Glimmer’s heart fluttered at the sight of Catra, an individual she swore she despised, bashful and stumbling over her words. “Awwww, you’re like a giant angry kitten.”

“I will claw your b-big, dumb eyes out, I s-swear!”

“Aw c’mon, what’re you embarrassed for?” Glimmer asked. “It’s cute.”

“I’m not cute.” Catra spat. “And… Well, I’m not used to purring in front of people okay? Other than Adora.”

Glimmer hummed in acknowledgement. “Okay but… is purring a bad thing? Doesn’t it just mean you’re content?”

“Being content in the Hoard means you’re being a slackass.” Catra argued bitterly. “Once my idiot self purred around Shadow Weaver instead of Goldie Locks, and I got my shit kicked in.”

Glimmer frowned at this. Shadow Weaver was in Brightmoon, and she was intimately aware of how Catra felt about that. When they stormed the Fright Zone together, Catra had looked so… betrayed. So hurt. She knew Shadow Weaver wasn’t necessarily a good person, but it was hard to picture the motherly, flower loving sorceress as anything other than a questionable, morally ambiguous entity. Horror stories about the way she treated Adora and Catra in their youth seemed so extraordinary given how level headed and non confrontational she’d been since arriving at Brightmoon. She supposed it’s hard to tell when you really truly know somebody. Which was only further evidenced by this entire conversation with Catra.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Glimmer spoke. She’d dropped the teasing lilt in her tone and spoke with utmost sincerity. “You shouldn’t have to hide your happiness. Especially around the woman who raised you.”

Catra faltered. She stared uneasily back at Glimmer with an expression which was difficult to read. Finally, she spoke, “Yeah well… it’s not your fault Shadow Weaver’s a bitch. Or that The Horde is terrible.”

“Why stay?” Glimmer felt genuinely curious as to why anyone would hang around that place.

“Once again Glimmer,” Catra responded with deep melancholy, “you wouldn’t understand.”

“Hey,” Glimmer noticed with a reserved little smile. “You called me by my name.”

Catra nodded, a teeny tiny grin dancing across her lips. “Yeah yeah. Get over it.”

A thought occurred to Glimmer. One she felt fiercely hesitant to voice. But apparently her thought process made its way onto her face, because Catra soon asked what the matter was. Glimmer twiddled her thumbs anxiously. “I-if you’d like… I could uh… pet you some more? I don’t care if you purr…”

Glimmer had never struggled to read someone as much as Catra. The girl was a mystery wrapped within an enigma. She waited to say anything though. She didn’t want to sound pushy. So the two sat in silence, once again, for several minutes.

“Fine.” Catra mumbled.

“Really?” Glimmer asked.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Don’t blow your load just…” Catra sneered, but the nervous way her nail twitched gave away her anxieties. It was more than apparent throughout all their past encounters that Catra loathed vulnerability. Glimmer felt almost honored. Catra sheepishly made her way back towards her cellmate and said not a word as she plopped down in front of her.

Glimmer looked on, astonished, by the girl now resting soundlessly before her. She didn’t want to keep her waiting though. Somehow she managed to swallow her amazement and go back to leisurely stroking the Horde soldier.

It took a while, but eventually, the pleasant sound of purring once again filled the tiny room. Glimmer looked down to observe the scene set before her and found herself taking in how serene Catra looked under her careful ministrations. This time, she didn’t bother to limit herself to Catra’s mane and ears. She allowed herself to run her fingers over the shorter, though equally soft fuzz of Catra’s arm and shoulder.

This time, Catra didn’t pull away. She simply took it all in. And Glimmer’s eyes settled on the way her lips curled into a smile.

Catra had fallen asleep.

As she continued to pet, her eyes began to feel a little misty. Why was she becoming emotional, Glimmer wondered… 

Emotions were confusing.

What wasn’t all that confusing however, was how adorable Catra was right then. And for a short, fleeting moment, Glimmer found herself hoping that maybe, just maybe, there’d be more of this to come once they made their escape. And as she had that thought, her heart began to beat a little faster.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading :) 
> 
> Tbh when I sat down to write this evening, I was doing it with the intention of writing something smutty. I haven't written smut in a while, and I wanted to try again with everyone's favorite angsty cat x sparkle brat. But one thing led to another and I wanted to write something much more pure.
> 
> I plan to write more She Ra in the future (probably mostly Catradora, Glitra and maybe some good ol Glitradora.) Here's to season 5 being right around the corner.
> 
> Please give Catra happiness. :')


End file.
